QUICK GUIDE

Helping to prevent
infection
A quick guide for managers and staff in care homes

Delivering clean, safe care is

essential to preventing infection
For people living in care homes, infections can be
serious, and in some cases, life-threatening.
They can also make existing medical conditions worse. Regular contact with staff,
other residents, family and friends and the shared living space all mean infection can
easily be passed around. It is therefore vital to take the steps that can help prevent
infection occurring.

Hand decontamination
Having clean hands is the most effective way of preventing infection from spreading.
There are 5 important moments when you should clean your hands:
as you h
o on a
s s hed providinve
is g
f A

in e to a reside
r nt
ca
2

1 4
Just before you Straight after touching the person’s
provide care to surroundings (e.g. chair, door handle) if
a resident this may have contaminated your hands

3
ny ave

h
ou a

5
S t ra r y
ight afte to As soon as
been exposed s
ui d you take off
body fl protective gloves

Adapted from ‘My 5 Moments for Hand

Hygiene’ – World Health Organization

To make it easier to wash your hands regularly, you should:

Keep your arms bare below the elbow
Before starting work remove wrist and hand jewellery
Have short, clean fingernails without nail polish or false nails
Cover cuts or grazes with a waterproof dressing

Decontaminate your hands with a handrub, except in the following situations when liquid
soap and water should be used:
When your hands are clearly dirty or may be contaminated with body fluids
 hen you have been providing care to residents with vomiting or diarrhoea,
W
even if you have been wearing gloves
The World Health Organization (WHO) provides an example diagram showing how
to effectively wash your hands or use handrub
Personal protective equipment
This includes the use of gloves and aprons to protect you and reduce the risk of
infection while providing care. Selecting which protective equipment to use will require
an assessment of the task and the risk to both yourself and the resident.
Wear
 each item only once
I f gloves are needed, put them on just before providing care and take them
off straight afterwards
Change
 gloves between different care tasks for one person, for example,
personal care and care that involves non-intact skin
Change
 gloves between care tasks for different people
Dispose
 of all used items correctly (see below)

Sharps
This refers mainly to the use of needles for which staff will need to have the right
training and skills. To help prevent infection:
Handle
 sharps as little as possible and don’t pass them from hand to hand
Do
 not bend, break or recap a used needle
Put
 used sharps in the right container straight away
Don’t
 use sharps containers for anything else
Dispose
 of sharps containers when the fill line is reached, or every
three months – whichever occurs first

Waste disposal
Healthcare waste, such as dressings and disposable clothing, can spread infection.
To reduce the risk of this:
Put waste immediately into the right colour storage, bag or container
Make
 sure you know how healthcare waste must be labelled and stored
Make
 sure residents and their friends and family understand how
waste must be handled, stored and disposed of
Education and information
Residents and their friends and family can play a part in helping to prevent
infection. Make sure they know about:
T
 he importance of clean hands
How, when and where to clean their hands
When to use handrub or soap and water
What they can do to make sure care staff maintain clean hands

Further information
Healthcare-associated infections: prevention and control in primary
and community care – NICE guideline
Infection prevention and control – NICE quality standard
The guideline and quality standard have been developed to complement the
Department of Health’s Code of practice on the prevention and control of infections.
The code of practice and accompanying information resource cover a range of
additional valuable information for managers and staff in care homes, including:
Hygiene measures for staff, visitors and residents with respiratory infections
When and how long to exclude staff from work when they have an infection or they
have come into contact with an infection in their own home
Assessing the need for isolation of residents because of infectious disease
Code of practice on the prevention and control of infections –
Department of Health
Care homes: infection prevention and control – an information resource –
Department of Health/Public Health England
Infection control: break the chain (You Tube) –
University Hospitals, Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust,
Residential adult social care: information for providers – Care Quality Commission
Essential practice for infection prevention and control – Royal College of Nursing

This content has been co-produced by NICE and SCIE and is based on NICE’s guideline on healthcare
associated infections: prevention and control in primary and community care and quality standard on infection
prevention and control.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
www.nice.org.uk
© NICE 2017. All rights reserved. See Notice of Rights
Social Care Institute for Excellence
www.scie.org.uk